Getting into the Groove

Xander turned a month old this last Friday! Time has really been flying even though the days seem pretty simple. Nurse, burp, rock to sleep and repeat. He is about 11 pounds now and is really starting to fill out and get some cute baby chub. We are trying to start a routine with Xander based on the principles of the books “Baby Whisperer” and “Baby Wise”, which recommend setting a predictable routine for your baby. That way he always knows what to expect and feels comforted. It was kind of difficult at first, especially because we tried to start it when Xander had a bought of colic, but that passed and now we seem to be getting into the groove, and it is working better every day. The routine is simple really; first baby eats, then plays, and then finally sleeps. In that order. Then you do that over and over again all day, and at night you eliminate playtime. It sounds so simple and yet at times, it seems so difficult. Like when Xander is falling asleep while nursing midday and I have to figure out how to keep him awake to finish eating. (Letting baby fall asleep on the breast is a big no-no.) Or when he falls asleep in his crib and seems content sleeping and then wakes up a thirty minutes later for no apparent reason and then won’t fall asleep again. So we try our best and I think it is paying off because now he can fall asleep in his crib by himself about half the time and is sleeping for good three and four hours periods at night. Of course everything is changing constantly and we have one good day followed by a bad day. Sometimes it feels like we take two steps forward and one step back. But that is how this parenting thing is supposed to go, right?

Week Two at Home-Life Goes On

The Pitzmans seem to be settling into home life. Xander is a little over two weeks old now and still seems to be a very content and happy little infant. We went to see Dr. Gillespie again the other day and Xander grew two inches and gained 11 ounces, now 22 inches long and 8 pounds 11 ounces. He got his first shot and another PKU draw, and I made sure that it was a good specimen so my NBS co-workers wouldn’t be disappointed.
Grandma Betsy and Lisa kept me in good company on week two at home, we ran errands, took walks at the duck pond and park, tried to keep the house in order, and get dinners on the table. Liz was so sweet and made us a really nice shrimp fettuccini dinner one night last week. Yum! We even went out for an Indian dinner with Jesse, Shu Ching, and Sasha while Xander slept the entire time!
Lyrik went back to work last week, which was difficult for everyone, but he tried to get home as early as possible to get in his baby time. Luckily he works four ten-hour shifts and gets to take off Fridays, which make for a nice long weekend. I think that it was almost more difficult for him to return to work than it was for us, given that he is still on diaper duty during the night and returned to a busy workload. This weekend we went for a few walks to the park with Lilly, slept in every morning, and had a nice family dinner with Jonah, Marley, Josh and Meagan. Lyrik even cleaned out the hot tub because Dr. Davis gave me the OK to have my soaks back! It felt so good to relax in the hot water, especially with all of the aches and pains from nighttime breastfeeding, which come from contorting my body into strange positions to get Xander to latch on correctly.
Xander’s schedule involves sleeping most of the day away and getting up to eat every few hours. So things are pretty easy right now, but soon to change, I’m sure. The past few days we have noticed that his alert-awake time during the day has increased. Maybe we will get to see a bit more of his personality come out! He seems a bit fussy at night around the midnight hour but has great sleep in the late morning hours after a complete feeding. Those are the moments Lyrik and I relish because we are still in bed, half-sleeping, and get to have some good cuddle time.

Back Home

It has been 10 days since Xander was born and Lyrik and I can officially say that we are madly in love with him. We have had a reasonably easy time with nursing and sleeping and he even seems to be slowly shifting away from his nocturnal schedule and more towards ours. Both Grandma Betsy and Lisa have been angels, helping out around the house and caring for Xander, Mom and Dad. We have managed to make it out of the house almost every day taking short walks, going to the grocery store, even a little trip to the mall and Babies R’ us. Mom even discovered the added benefit of putting Xander in the sling while at New Seasons-discrete breast feeding! We went to our first pediatrician appointment with Dr. Gillespie and Xander had gained a whopping 7 ounces only a few days after leaving the hospital. At this rate he will be past his birth weight in no time! Lilly seems to be very wary of her little brother, or maybe cautious is a better description. She sniffs around all of Xanders things and only recently has she gotten the nerve to sniff him and give him a tiny little kiss. We think she may feel a little displaced which is understandable, since she was our little baby for so long and now she has taken the back seat. She even ran away the other day. The gate was left open and instead of hanging out near the house like she usually does when she gets out, we got a call from a neighbor several blocks away saying they found her chewing sticks up in their front yard. Oh, Lilly!